Recreation Advisory Commission

Recreation Advisory Commission November 8, 2023 Call To Order: A meeting of the Durham Recreation Advisory Commission was held on this day in person, November 8, 2023. In attendance Lesley Stracks-Mullem, Cedric Burke, Karthik Sundaramoorthy, Teah Rawlings, Girija Mahajan, Jill Thomas, excused absence Mike Johnston I. Adjustments to the Agenda/Special Announcements 1. None II. Public Comment 1. Athena Howard - ATT Safety – Accident occurred on the trail which resulted in significant injuries. The accident occurred after a cyclist hit a hump on the trail. Someone has since marked the hump to alert users. ▪ The resident has three issues to be addressed. • The resident would like to have all trail hazards on the trail marked or repaired. • The 911 call center had difficulty finding their location on the trail. There is no road sign on the trail for Massey Chapel Rd so users can tell 911 their closest location. They would like all road crossings signed. • EMS were not aware of the access point where they could access the trail with a gurney. EMS need to be alerted to all access locations along the trail. 2. Dale McKeel – Third Fork Creek Trail – There are roots on the Third Fork Creek trail that need to be spot repaired. Additionally, drainage is an issue on the trail where the water is trapped after rains occur. 3. Brian Callaway – The Ellerbee Creek Trail in Northgate Park, the gate is blocking access for cyclists and walkers to the trail. ▪ The resident also wanted to camp at Spruce Pine Lodge and was not able to as the department requires 10 days advance notice to rent the campsites. III. RAC Community Engagement Events & Committee Reports 1. Community Engagement ▪ Girja went to the new park in Apex, it was an incredible park. • She is now waiting to hear about basketball assignments for the 5-6 year old teams. • The Tae Kwan Do instructor is great. ▪ Karthic was at EJ during the basketball evaluations and everyone looked like they were having fun. ▪ Karthic thanked Emilie for attending the Duke Park Neighborhood Association Meeting. ▪ Cedric just finished a 4-week soccer clinic for 40 youth. 2. No DOST Meeting this month. 3. Durham Parks Foundation ▪ DPF is expanding their partnership with DPR programs with partnerships in the works for the DPR 100 Kick-Off event, Earth Day, and the Rock the Park Series ▪ DPF will be part of the Triangle Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership Center Bid For Better Auction on November 28, 2023 at the Kramden Institute. There will be 20 Recreation Advisory Commission November 2023 Meeting Minutes Page 1  non-profits as part of the silent auction event. Tickets are available for purchase to the event. Emilie will send out to link to purchase tickets. ▪ The Foundation has begun their work in the Duke Park community to prepare for the fundraising campaign that will begin in the Spring. IV. Approval of Minutes 1. Cedric Burke motioned to approve the minutes as submitted, Girija Mahajan seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. V. Old Business/New Business 1. Open Space Presentation – Audrey Vogel ▪ Presentation Attached ▪ Questions and Comments • How is equitable access defined • The Trust for Public Lands 10-minute safe walk to a park is used at the equitable access evaluation tool. a. Private parks in neighborhoods are not used in this evaluation. • Karthik likes the idea of adding land to Sherwood Park • Karthik brought up that WD Hill and Hillside has county property adjacent to it. With the improvements to the courts and lighting these could be good options to add to Hillside Park. • Properties are evaluated based on the 6 criteria in the presentation. • Girija asked if we start with an annual budget and look for land that fits within that budget or do we identify the parcels and then go after the funding. a. Tom responded that a real estate case is made that can be taken to City Council for an out of cycle budget request using funds from the fund balance. Sometimes land is donated and budget funds are used for due diligence and closing costs. • Lesley asked about how special events and festivals factor into the decision making process for evaluating properties. a. Planning factors the programmatic use of sites into the evaluation process. • Lesley asked how Audrey came into her role. a. She was a planner for the City of Mebane. Her interest was in requirements for developers to include open space and recreation opportunities into their developments. • How does affordable housing use of public land impact open space planning. a. Audrey has had discussions with the Real Estate Division on including open space and recreation access. Some of the affordable housing that is being developed is duplex and small scale so it fits within the ecosystem DPR is currently developing. • Do we look at the property that Durham Public School owns. a. We try to work with Durham County on open spaces that are adjacent to DPS. • What is our current walkability for the 10-minute park score. Recreation Advisory Commission November 2023 Meeting Minutes Page 2  a. Approximately 50% of Durham residents live within a 10-minute walk. • A next step is for the city and county to determine the amount of space is currently preserved. • Is DPR working with planning to ensure that developers are setting aside land for recreation. a. DPR is involved in the planning review process and evaluates plans to ensure that the space is available to the public. VI. Directors Report 1. See Report that was sent out 2. Additional Staff Information and Questions ▪ FY25 Budget Process • The official calendar has not been released as of yet. • The city manager has requested the prelist requests from departments by November 20. This is CIP and general operating fund. IF there is a thumbs up the dept will develop the request more fully. • Departments have been cautioned that the Class and Comp study could result in changes that could be quite costly. Departments should be strategic in examining. • Official kick off for the process will begin in early January. • New budget requests are typically due by the end of January. • Full operating budget will be due typically mid to late February • Council retreats occur in late February and early March. • City Manager will take the proposed guidelines to City Council in April. • Public hearings are typically held in March and in June at City Council Meetings. • Balanced budget is presented to council in mid May. • Final adoption is scheduled for June 17, 2024. • The Leadership Team is meeting today to review the initial prelist requests. This review will then go to Wade for review. • The fee schedule did not go forward and is on hold. The goal is to balance the fees so that those who can afford to pay, do so, and those who cannot will still receive the reduced fees. • The CIP process runs parallel to the Budget process. • The unfunded requests from last year and some new items that are being pulled from the Comp plan. ▪ DPR Comprehensive Park System Pan • First phase is current state and evaluation of assets. • Next phase was vision for benchmark and level of service analysis a. Looked at benchmark cities. Fees and charges were examined from those cities. b. Nees assessment survey was completed and was statistically valid. c. DPR has also sent out the survey for any residents to respond to. Received 590 surveys from that. d. Still reviewing the data from the surveys. Recreation Advisory Commission November 2023 Meeting Minutes Page 3  • Phase 3 is evaluation of the data and drafting recommendations from the results. • Phase 4 development of strategies for implementing the plan. • The process is on track to have the plan around the end of the fiscal year. • McAdams will come to the next meeting to present on where they are so far and to receive feedback from the RAC. • Engagement is still ongoing with the formation of focus groups. ▪ Northgate Park Access • The gate that was installed was to remove vehicle access to the former dog park parking area. a. Signage needs to be updated as it reads that the trail is closed. b. Lindsay is evaluating the gate and will provide recommendations to make sure that the access for bikes. ▪ Access to Trails • Coordination with EMS to know the access points of the trails in the City. Tom will work with Lindsay to evaluate the items that were presented and coordinate with the appropriate departments. ▪ Have the programming numbers gone back up since after COVID? • Yes, numbers have gone back up. Staffing changes since after COVID have been impacting hiring of program staff. On-demand work such as Uber and Door Dash have cut into the available job force. Programs are looking at 25% growth in registration numbers for this year. Meeting Adjourned at 8:55am Next RAC Meeting – Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Minutes respectfully submitted by Emilie McIntosh Recreation Advisory Commission November 2023 Meeting Minutes Page 4 INTRODUCTION TO OPEN SPACE PLANNING DURHAM PARKS AND REC Audrey Vogel, Open Space Planner| November 8, 2023 Presentation Objectives  What is “Open Space”?  Overview of adopted open space plans and policies  Outline DPR open space strategy 919.560.4355 DurhamNC.gov Follow Us @CityofDurhamNC What is Open Space?  Natural lands and waters permanently preserved in a natural state, or restored and enhanced to be consistent with the surrounding landscape (2017 Urban Open Space Plan)  Lands set aside for preservation of significant natural resources, remnant landscapes, open space and visual aesthetic or buffering functions. One of the major purposes is to enhance the livability and character of a community by preserving as many of its natural amenities as possible, as well as providing wildlife habitat in rapidly urbanizing areas. (DPR Park Classification Standards) Policy Guidance for Open Space Planning • 2024 Durham Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Systems Plan (Underway) • Durham Comprehensive Plan (Adopted October 16, 2023) • Urban Open Space Plan (2017) • Downtown Open Space Plan (2014) Downtown Open Space Goals • Promote a variety of open spaces • Opportunities for outdoor social, civic, and recreational activities • Connect urban neighborhoods to Downtown • Design that promotes safety, ecology, and complements the urban fabric 919.560.4355 DurhamNC.gov Follow Us @CityofDurhamNC Urban Open Space Plan Objectives Ensure a well-maintained, highly utilized, and integrated open Objective 1 space system Increase recreation and open space to meet the long- Objective 2 term needs of the city Objective 3 Improve access and connectivity to open space Protect and enhance the biodiversity and ecological integrity of Objective 4 open spaces and encourage sustainable practices Objective 5 Engage communities in the stewardship of their open spaces Increase tree canopy in the urban tier to mitigate the effect Objective 6 of climate change and urban heat islands Comprehensive Plan Policies • Policy 78 Ensure that a minimum of 30% of the land area of Durham County is placed in permanent conservation by 2050. Encourage permanent conservation of land, especially publicly owned land, that is most suitable for permanent protection, such as natural heritage areas, forested tracts, and bottomlands. • Policy 96 Implement strategies to reduce the heat island effect and its impact on residents. • Policy 98 Encourage the creation and preservation of natural wildlife habitat and natural plant communities, particularly for pollinators and birds, on both public and private land. • Policy 103 Ensure that all residents living within the Urban Growth Boundary are within a safe ten- minute walking distance of public parkland. • Policy 106 Equitably invest in park maintenance, activities, special events programming, and accessibility upgrades throughout Durham. Open Space Implementation Where we’ve been Looking ahead • DPR’s role in open space planning has • DPR is more explicitly looking at the been primarily for park and trail environmental and green development infrastructure aspects to land acquisition and management in • Downtown Rail Trail Durham • Merrick Moore Park • Expand Park System with open space • Splash and Plan parcels • Native Plant Prairie and Miracle Field at American Tobacco Trailhead Open Space Strategy  Use adopted plans and policies to develop criteria for evaluating open space and park expansion opportunities  Evaluate vacant city-owned property for parks and open space suitability and make recommendations to incorporate suitable parcels into the park system. a. Phase 1: Incorporate +/- 55 acres of vacant city property adjacent to “Focus Parks” b. Next phases involve examining the City’s entire portfolio of vacant parcels  Expand open space resources via fee simple property acquisitions that further the goals adopted long-range plans pertaining to parks, trails, and open space  Develop land management strategy and environmental restoration goals for new parcels Open Space Strategy Criteria Equitable Access and Connectivity: Recreation: the property has the property supports a network of appropriate area, topography, Buffering: the property serves as a parks, trails, and open space where location, and visibility to buffer for existing parks and open all Durham residents have safe, accommodate diverse parks and spaces and their natural or built equitable access to a high-quality recreation purposes, particularly in resources. parks and open space within a 10- under-served areas. minute walk from home. Environmental Protection and Maintenance and Fiscal Feasibility: Restoration: the property offers Wow Factor: opportunity to protect the property’s maintenance environmental benefits for water site with exceptional value such as requirements and the cost of the quality, stormwater management, biodiversity, scenic, cultural acquisition are reasonable relative biodiversity, air quality, and urban heritage etc. to the community benefit. heat islands. Example: Sherwood Park • 5 city parcels outside of park area (+/- 12.9 acres) • Target area for equitable investment in parks and recreation • Opportunities for: • Improved connectivity to open space • Environmental protection restoration • Incorporate with funded park improvement projects • Aligns with guidance from Urban Open Space Plan and Comprehensive Plan Open Space Plan Key Takeaways • DPR continually working to achieve the intent of the adopted open space plans. • These plans are instrumental for DPR to guide and justify purchases of properties that become available for open space. • Staff to prioritize achieving an equitable distribution of open space primarily in the Urban Tier. 919.560.4355 DurhamNC.gov Follow Us @CityofDurhamNC INTRODUCTION TO OPEN SPACE PLANNING DURHAM PARKS AND REC Audrey Vogel, Open Space Planner| November 8, 2023